All of the above. I hear of the clarity some believer's have in knowing His voice and that matters to me greatly. The ability to know His voice, to discern it, and experience Him in multiple ways. It doesn't have to be a boring religious dry going through the motions experience but can be a vivid, lively, lovely, intimate and joyous one.
Are you content with your relationship with God?
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T
Should we ever be? In this world I don't think we should ever be complacent and content with our walk with God; because the closer you come to God, the more things you'll see in yourself that you have to change. Our relationship with Him should always be drawing us nearer him, which means it should always need changing.
Within the ranks of the men I know personally that pastor churches in probably 20 states and a hand full of countries we have a saying........this saying seems to permeate the ranks of Christianity......
Saved, Satisfied and Petrified
Paul kept pressing toward the mark and high calling......In Christ we should all strive to be more like Jesus and more in tune with God's word and will while being receptive and pliable by the conviction, guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit as it goes before us to lead and direct our lives.......
at the end of the day we are lazy I suppose hahah
Saved, Satisfied and Petrified
Paul kept pressing toward the mark and high calling......In Christ we should all strive to be more like Jesus and more in tune with God's word and will while being receptive and pliable by the conviction, guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit as it goes before us to lead and direct our lives.......
at the end of the day we are lazy I suppose hahah
What I seek is not a spiritual experience it is something that only he can give me and something that happens and forms inside us. Believe me when i say there a depth and richness of his love that we can never even begin to imagine and this love is given to those who whose hearts hungrily seek it. It is the love and hunger I have for him that drives me to seek this I told him from the beginning that I am not after an ordinary love relationship or bond with him I told him that I will not accept anything less than the deepest and most beautiful of love with him and from the moment my heart spoke this to him that hunger appeared and intensified as time went on.
Hide and seek is fathers favorite game and he treasures a child who seeks him out with all their heart we will never truly know him unless we seek his face with a hungry and adoring heart. There is a reason the scriptures say if you hunger for righteous you will be filled and there is a reason David expressed his deep thirst for him.
Hide and seek is fathers favorite game and he treasures a child who seeks him out with all their heart we will never truly know him unless we seek his face with a hungry and adoring heart. There is a reason the scriptures say if you hunger for righteous you will be filled and there is a reason David expressed his deep thirst for him.
Thats what I'm saying! It doesn't have to be the future, it can start today, haha. I am not content therefore I need to act today. I am asking others, as well, are you content? If not, then seek. I personally have wounds in my heart and feelings of inadequacy that probably have hindered me from seeking the Lord as I should, but there comes a point where it is only He who can heal those areas.
He already has begun. I had a terrible autoimmune disease that was incurable and it had me extremely self conscious. Guess what? He healed it! One down, another to go. But all is well, I know that I love God but more importantly I must comprehend that He loves me. I need to seek Him... its important.
It doesn't have to be the future, it can start today, haha. I am not content therefore I need to act today. I am asking others, as well, are you content? If not, then seek. I personally have wounds in my heart and feelings of inadequacy that probably have hindered me from seeking the Lord as I should, but there comes a point where it is only He who can heal those areas. He already has begun. I had a terrible autoimmune disease that was incurable and it had me extremely self conscious. Guess what? He healed it! One down, another to go. But all is well, I know that I love God but more importantly I must comprehend that He loves me. I need to seek Him... its important.
B
My thoughts are that The word content seems to some what imply to have no need or desire for growth or movement forward though on the other hand one could say well yes I'm content on the plate I've been given yet still desire knowledgeable growth and understanding. So IMO it's more of being comfortable and in control of ones thoughts and actions not so much as being content or complacent but of readiness and willingness to move forward in wisdom and understanding,,
acceptance/forgiveness can be a vital role in achievements of knowledge gained...
acceptance/forgiveness can be a vital role in achievements of knowledge gained...
Hey Ben...good thought provoking OP.
For me when I considered this - I see where God has me "practicing His presence" which to me now means to be aware of His constant union and oneness with me throughout the day. Coming from a Pentecostal/charismatic background there has been the emphasis on a "quiet time" which to me meant a "specific time each day".
The Lord has led me away from this "quiet time" specific time to being open to pray when things arise in my heart throughout the day. I am not saying a "quiet time " is wrong as the Lord may have me go to a specific time every day in the future.
( I know the Lord got up early to pray because He was constantly on the move throughout the day and He is a good example of using what time there is available )
So, for now I am content with my times with the Lord knowing that He is directing me and sometimes it takes an act of God to get us out of our religious habits too.
These "habits" ( although intrinsically good ) may be a stumbling block to actually growing in knowing Him. Only He knows the way that we are to go and I believe we need to be willing to follow Him in the way that He has for us individually and not fall into condemnation with ourselves nor the condemnation of well-meaning others that "think" seeking God "always looks like this." ( the way I do it..)
In relation to being satisfied - there is always that "tension" between wanting to know the Lord more and being content in His love and grace towards us. For me - it is in resting that He will direct my paths as we walk with each other. For is is God who is at work in me - both to will and to do His good pleasure.
The fight is to rest in this truth when other "voices" are screaming at you different things. The wisdom of God is first pure, peaceable and gentle so I follow that voice first and foremost.
For me when I considered this - I see where God has me "practicing His presence" which to me now means to be aware of His constant union and oneness with me throughout the day. Coming from a Pentecostal/charismatic background there has been the emphasis on a "quiet time" which to me meant a "specific time each day".
The Lord has led me away from this "quiet time" specific time to being open to pray when things arise in my heart throughout the day. I am not saying a "quiet time " is wrong as the Lord may have me go to a specific time every day in the future.
( I know the Lord got up early to pray because He was constantly on the move throughout the day and He is a good example of using what time there is available )
So, for now I am content with my times with the Lord knowing that He is directing me and sometimes it takes an act of God to get us out of our religious habits too.
These "habits" ( although intrinsically good ) may be a stumbling block to actually growing in knowing Him. Only He knows the way that we are to go and I believe we need to be willing to follow Him in the way that He has for us individually and not fall into condemnation with ourselves nor the condemnation of well-meaning others that "think" seeking God "always looks like this." ( the way I do it..)
In relation to being satisfied - there is always that "tension" between wanting to know the Lord more and being content in His love and grace towards us. For me - it is in resting that He will direct my paths as we walk with each other. For is is God who is at work in me - both to will and to do His good pleasure.
The fight is to rest in this truth when other "voices" are screaming at you different things. The wisdom of God is first pure, peaceable and gentle so I follow that voice first and foremost.
1Ti 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
Php 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
God will not give me more than I need. If I seek too much then I will become proud. The desire to be more "spiritual" is a rabbit hole that takes us away from the presence and out of the perfect will of God for each of us.
For the cause of Christ
Roger
Php 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
God will not give me more than I need. If I seek too much then I will become proud. The desire to be more "spiritual" is a rabbit hole that takes us away from the presence and out of the perfect will of God for each of us.
For the cause of Christ
Roger
You know I often times contemplate the journey he and I have walked in coming to know him it's like fondly reminiscing the story that your journey tells every memory of what you have gone through and experience all the people you met and encountered every bond that was made even the painful times that helped shape you to who you have become.
I remember who I used to be before I met him and I know who I seek to become and while I may not be who I seek to be in him yet I also am not who I once was. I think the difference between being content in him and being satisfied with our relationship with him is that being content with him is what makes one remember and ponder the journey you have had with him with deep fondness and yet your heart continues to look forward to even deeper and glorious bond with him while being content with your relationship with him is a lack of hunger a lack of wanting something deeper with him and I highly doubt that is what any of us feel.
This journey with him is not always an easy one it has it's hard times and it's easy times it has great joy and sadness it has pain and it has healing and we all still have quite a ways to go in this journey with him and when we reach the end there is one thing I know we can all say about him- He sure isn't boring
I remember who I used to be before I met him and I know who I seek to become and while I may not be who I seek to be in him yet I also am not who I once was. I think the difference between being content in him and being satisfied with our relationship with him is that being content with him is what makes one remember and ponder the journey you have had with him with deep fondness and yet your heart continues to look forward to even deeper and glorious bond with him while being content with your relationship with him is a lack of hunger a lack of wanting something deeper with him and I highly doubt that is what any of us feel.
This journey with him is not always an easy one it has it's hard times and it's easy times it has great joy and sadness it has pain and it has healing and we all still have quite a ways to go in this journey with him and when we reach the end there is one thing I know we can all say about him- He sure isn't boring
WOW, Breno,
you have floored us for the humility of your heart/words...
we feel your 'conviction, for we have definitely experienced it in our lives...
it is really a very 'simple move', our conscience/gateway to God, convicts us and we must do what is RIGHT...
if we go the 'other way', against our conscience, we OPEN the door for great 'deception' -
Paul says, 'I have done everything to keep my conscience 'clean', - and we can only think of ONE WHO
is a Better Example than Paul...
you have floored us for the humility of your heart/words...
we feel your 'conviction, for we have definitely experienced it in our lives...
it is really a very 'simple move', our conscience/gateway to God, convicts us and we must do what is RIGHT...
if we go the 'other way', against our conscience, we OPEN the door for great 'deception' -
Paul says, 'I have done everything to keep my conscience 'clean', - and we can only think of ONE WHO
is a Better Example than Paul...
I am always looking for more, there was a time when i got stagnant, too comfortable in my position and started to backslide. Now i only move forward. I hear God's voice all the time, like the time i clearly heard Him say something about a time to be silent (Ecclesiastes 3:7). about 15 minutes later this random person comes out, and starts arguing with me over nothing.